Respect yourself first

There's a relatively new trend, or rather, a movement, in college athletics that has slowly made its way to Xavier. It's called the "boobment." Yes, you heard that right. Boobment. For those of you who do not know, the boobment is a new Twitter phenomenon in which college girls can apparently show support for their team by sending pictures of their chest partially covered by a shirt bearing their team's logo or name. In short, women send pictures of their moderately covered breasts to Twitter under the guise of supporting a team. I'll be frank here: this is ridiculous. Now, I'll spare you all - and myself - the "objectification of women in a patriarchal society" rant. That's not what I'm about today. What I am about is respect and wondering where the hell it is when it comes to women that are willing to do this and, more specifically, the woman who started it. Yes, you read that correctly. A woman at Kansas University started the boobment in order to "show her support for Kansasbasketball." Call me oldfashioned, but if you want to show your support for a basketball team, go to a game, or better yet, show that you know something about the game you're such a fan of. If you want to support basketball, discuss the pros and cons of a zone defense; don't let people discuss the pros and cons of your zone. Respect yourself and other women enough to show that you're worth more than your body. Women have been working for decades to prove that they are more than just a pretty face; more than just a body to please men (or women, no need to be heteronormative here). Women have to respect themselves, and each other, if they expect to be treated with the respect that many fi ght so hard for. Many women fi ght an uphill battle simply to be accepted in their line of work; don't make them fi ght that battle to be a sports fan as well. It's like the golden rule, only slightly modifi ed: treat yourself the way you'd like to be treated. Don't allow someone to diminish you to only what you can contribute physically. Show those around you that you can support a team by cheering harder when Erik Stenger tries to make a free throw - because you know he needs the help - not by showing everyone that you know how to wear Xavier across your chest. As Xavier students, is this what you want people to think of our university and the women that attend it? As a Jesuit university, what does it say about respecting all people when we can't even respect ourselves? Spoiler alert: it doesn't say anything good Now, this is not something that is run by the university. Xavier didn't create the "XUBoobs" Twitter. But someone at this university did, and 405 people follow it. Four hundred and five of your peers, classmates, roommates and friends support this movement. Respect yourself and those around you enough to shut it down. If you follow it, stop. If you know someone who does, encourage them to unfollow it. The same goes for those who send in pictures; respect yourself and don't send them. A movement can't go anywhere without followers, quite literally in this sense. So do yourselves (and everyone) a favor and start a new movement of respect; It starts with you.